Built to Stand Strong

Matthew 7:24 – 27
²⁴ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 
²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 
²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The storms of life come to everyone of us. There will always be challenges, difficulties and trying moments. When you think you have overcome one, you are faced with another. That is the reality of life, but God doesn’t want us to be overcome by whatever testy and trying moments we face. He expects us to overcome, and not to faint.

Proverbs 24:10
¹⁰ If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

“Thy strength is small” is the reason why people faint, throw in the towel, become disheartened in the day of adversity. The exhortation, therefore, is to build capacity, so that we can stand strong in the time of crisis. How do we develop strength?

Proverbs 24:5
⁵ A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

To stand in the day of adversity, God expects us to get wisdom and knowledge. A wise man is strong! A man of knowledge increases strength! The wise man, the man of knowledge, has what it takes to stand in the day of adversity. His strength is not small, rather he “increaseth strength“. The tougher the adversity, the more multiplied his strength is. The Hebrew renders it as, “The wise man is in strength; yea, the man of knowledge strengtheneth might“. Who, then, is a wise man?

In Matthew 7:24, the Lord Jesus answered the question of who a wise man is. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man”. The man God regards as being wise is the one who hears the Word of God and does them. This is the man God says “is in strength” and “strengtheneth might“. Contrariwise, the one who hears God’s Word but does not act on what he hears, is compared to a foolish man. Both men – the wise and the foolish – are builders. They both are building their lives, however, on different foundations. The former is building on a rock and the latter on a sand. The challenges of life come to every one of us, there is no difference – “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house” (verses 25 and 27). It doesn’t seem like the wise man had more favorable conditions. No, they both experienced the same – rain, floods and winds, but while one stood strong in the day of adversity and fell not, the other did and great was the fall of it. Why did the house of the foolish man fall? Because he heard God’s Word but didn’t do it.

It is in the doing of the Word that we hear, in the acting upon the knowledge of God’s Word, that we are blessed. James 1:25 says, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”. God wants us to excel in our endeavors. It is our duty to not only pay close attention to the Word of God, but also to take heed to be doers of what we hear. Only then can we build things that will stay strong in the face of difficulties and stand the test of time.

Credits for featured image: https://debbieclarkart.com/art/house-in-a-storm-painting/